A
new study helps answer that question, based on a test of gene activity
in tumors. It found that nearly half of women with early-stage breast
cancer who would traditionally receive chemo can avoid it, with little
risk of the cancer coming back or spreading in the next five years.
The
so-called genomic test measures the activity of genes that control the
growth and spread of cancer, and can identify women with a low risk of
recurrence and therefore little to gain from chemo.
“More
and more evidence is mounting that there is a substantial number of
women with breast cancer who will not need chemotherapy to do well,”
said Dr. Rachel A. Freedman, a breast cancer oncologist at the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
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